Disable Windows Media Player Network Service In Windows 7

In Windows 7 the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service is enabled by default. This means Media Player is visible as a server on your DLNA devices.

I use Mezzmo as my DLNA media server and use it to stream media to my DLNA enabled TV. Thanks to Windows 7 the two PCs I've got on my network resulted in Media Player appearing as DLNA servers on my TV. I just wanted to use Mezzmo and I didn't want other servers cluttering up my TV interface and confusing my family.

This functionality is the result of a service called "wmpnetwk.exe" and it is used to share Windows Media Player libraries across a network to DLNA enabled devices.

This is great if you want it but I didn't so I disabled the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.

This is how to do it :

Click the Windows Start button and in the Search programs and files type "services.msc". Double click "services.msc" in the results box above :

This launches the Windows 7 Services Microsoft Management Console (MMC) where you can configure how your Windows services run.

Scroll down the list and find "Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service". Right click on it and select "Stop" to stop the service.

The service will restart when the PC is restarted so if you want to permanently disable this process right click and select "Properties".

In the "Startup Type" list select "Disabled" so that this process will be permanently disabled even when Windows restarts.

If you ever want to restore the service back to its default setting you can just edit the properties and set the "Startup Type" to "Automatic".